Micro-Sized Pinhole Inspection with Segmented Time Reversal and High-Order Modes Cluster Lamb Waves Based on EMATs

Pinhole corrosion is difficult to discover through conventional ultrasonic guided waves inspection,particularly for micro-sized pinholes less than 1 mm in diameter.This study proposes a new micro-sized pinhole inspection method based on segmented time reversal(STR)and high-order modes cluster(HOMC)Lamb waves.First,the principle of defect echo enhancement using STR is introduced.Conventional and STR inspection experiments were conducted on aluminum plates with a thickness of 3 mm and defects with different diameters and depths.The parameters of the segment window are discussed in detail.The results indicate that the proposed method had an amplitude four times larger than of conventional ultrasonic guided waves inspection method for pinhole defect detection and could detect micro-sized pinhole defects as small as 0.5 mm in diameter and 0.5 mm in depth.Moreover,the segment window location and width(5-10 times width of the conventional excitation signal)did not affect the detection sensitivity.The combination of low-power and STR is more conducive to detection in different environments,indicating the robustness of the proposed method.Compared with conventional ultrasonic guided wave inspection methods,the proposed method can detect much smaller defect echoes usually obscured by noise that are difficult to detect with a lower excitation power and thus this study would be a good reference for pinhole defect detection.

Cumulative second-harmonic generation of Lamb waves propagating in a two-layered solid plate

The physical process of cumulative second-harmonic generation of Lamb waves propagating in a two-layered solid plate is presented by using the second-order perturbation and the technique of nonlinear reflection of acoustic waves at an interface. In general, the cumulative second-harmonic generation of a dispersive guided wave propagation does not occur. However, the present paper shows that the second-harmonic of Lamb wave propagation arising from the nonlinear interaction of the partial bulk acoustic waves and the restriction of the three boundaries of the solid plates does have a cumulative growth effect if some conditions are satisfied. Through boundary condition and initial condition of excitation, the analytical expression of cumulative second-harmonic of Lamb waves propagation is determined. Numerical results show the cumulative effect of Lamb waves on second-harmonic field patterns.

Location of micro-cracks in plates using time reversed nonlinear Lamb waves

A promising tool to detect micro-cracks in plate-like structures is used for generating higher harmonic Lamb waves.In this paper,a method combining nonlinear S0 mode Lamb waves with time reversal to locate micro-cracks is presented and verified by numerical simulations.Two different models,the contact acoustic nonlinearity(CAN)model and the Preisach-Mayergoyz(PM)model,are used to simulate a localized damage in a thin plate.Pulse inversion method is employed to extract the second and fourth harmonics from the received signal.Time reversal is performed to compensate the dispersion of S0 mode Lamb waves.Consequently,the higher harmonics generated from the damaged area can be refocused on their source.By investigating the spatial distribution of harmonic wave packets,the location of micro-cracks will be revealed.The numerical simulations indicate that this method gives accurate locations of the damaged area in a plate.Furthermore,the PM model is proved to be a suitable model to simulate the micro-cracks in plates for generation of higher harmonics.

Propagation Properties of Backward Lamb Waves in Plate Investigated by Dynamic Photoelastic Technique

The dynamic photoelastic technique is employed to visualize and quantify the propagation properties of backward Lamb waves in a plate. Higher energy leakage of second-order symmetric backward wave mode S2b in contrast to third-order anti-symmetric backward mode A3b is shown by the dispersion curve of a plate immersed in water, and then verified by experiments. To avoid the considerable high leakage, the plate is placed in air, both group and phase velocities of modes S2b and A3b in the glass plate are experimentally measured. In comparison with the theoretical values, less than 5% errors are found in experiments.

Analysis of Second-Harmonic Generation of Low-Frequency Dilatational Lamb Waves in a Two-Layered Composite Plate

We analyze the effect of second-harmonic generation（SHG） of primary Lamb wave propagation in a two-layered composite plate, and then investigate the influence of interfacial properties on the said effect at low frequency. It is found that changes in the interfacial properties essentially affect the dispersion relation and then the maximum cumulative distance of the double-frequency Lamb wave generated. This will remarkably influence the efficiency of SHG. To overcome the complications arising from the inherent dispersion and multimode natures in analyzing the SHG effect of Lamb waves, the present work focuses on the analysis of the SHG effect of low-frequency dilatational Lamb wave propagation. Both the numerical analysis and finite element simulation indicate that the SHG effect of low-frequency dilatational Lamb wave propagation is found to be much more sensitive to changes in the interfacial properties than primary Lamb waves. The potential of using the SHG effect of low-frequency dilatational Lamb waves to characterize a minor change in the interfacial properties is analyzed.

Piezoelectric transducer parameter selection for exciting a single mode from multiple modes of Lamb waves

Excitation and propagation of Lamb waves by using rectangular and circular piezoelectric transducers surface- bonded to an isotropic plate are investigated in this work. Analytical stain wave solutions are derived for the two transducer shapes, giving the responses of these transducers in Lamb wave fields. The analytical study is supported by a numericM simulation using the finite element method. Symmetric and antisymmetric components in the wave propagation responses are inspected in detail with respect to test parameters such as the transducer geometry, the length and the excitation frequency. By placing only one piezoelectric transducer on the top or the bottom surface of the plate and weakening the strength of one mode while enhancing the strength of the other modes to find the centre frequency, with which the peak wave amplitude ratio between the SO and A0 modes is maximum, a single mode excitation from the multiple modes of the Lamb waves can be achieved approximately. Experimental data are presented to show the validity of the analyses. The results are used to optimize the Lamb wave detection system.

Selective generation of ultrasonic Lamb waves by electromagnetic acoustic transducers

In this paper, we describe a modal expansion approach for the analysis of the selective generation of ultrasonic Lamb waves by electromagnetic acoustic transducers （EMATs）. With the modal expansion approach for waveguide excitation, an analytical expression of the Lamb wave＇s mode expansion coefficient is deduced, which is related to the driving frequency and the geometrical parameters of the EMAT＇s meander coil, and lays a theoretical foundation for exactly analyzing the selective generation of Larnb waves with EMATs. The influences of the driving frequency on the mode expansion coefficient of ultrasonic Lamb waves are analyzed when the EMAT＇s geometrical parameters are given. The numerical simulations and experimental examinations show that the ultrasonic Lamb wave modes can be effectively regulated （strengthened or restrained） by choosing an appropriate driving frequency of EMAT, with the geometrical parameters given. This result provides a theoretical and experimental basis for selectively generating a single and pure Lamb wave mode with EMATs.

Lamb waves in a thin isotropic layer between two anisotropic layers

Attenuative Lamb wave propagation in adhesively bonded anisotropic composite plates is introduced. The isotropic adhesive exhibits viscous behavior to stimulate the poor curing of the middle layer. Viscosity is assumed to vary linearly with frequency, implying that attenuation per wavelength is constant. Attenuation can be implemented in the analysis through modification of elastic properties of isotropic adhesive. The new properties become complex, but cause no further complications in the analysis. The characteristic equation is the same as that used for the elastic plate case, except that both real and imaginary parts of the wave number (i.e., the attenuation) must be computed. Based on the Lowe’s solution in finding the complex roots of characteristic equation, the effect of longitudinal and shear attenuation coefficients of the middle adhesive layer on phase velocity dispersion curves and attenuation dispersion curves of Lamb waves propagating in bonded anisotropic composites is visualized numerically.

Interface-guided mode of Lamb waves in a two-dimensional phononic crystal plate

We investigate the interface-guided mode of Lamb waves in a phononic crystal heterostructures plate, which is com- posed of two different semi-infinite phononic crystal （PC） plates. The interface-guided modes of the Lamb wave can be obtained by the lateral lattice slipping or by the interface longitudinal gliding. Significantly, it is observed that the condition to generate the interface-guided modes of the Lamb wave is more demanding than that of the studied fluid-fluid system. The interface-guided modes are strongly affected not only by the relative movement of the two semi-infinite PCs but also by the thickness of the PC plate.

A time reversal damage imaging method for structure health monitoring using Lamb waves

This paper investigates the Lamb wave imaging method combining time reversal for health monitoring of a metallic plate structure. The temporal focusing effect of the time reversal Lamb waves is investigated theoretically. It demonstrates that the focusing effect is related to the frequency dependency of the time reversal operation. Numerical simulations are conducted to study the time reversal behaviour of Lamb wave modes under broadband and narrowband excitations. The results show that the reconstructed time reversed wave exhibits close similarity to the reversed narrowband tone burst signal validating the theoretical model. To enhance the similarity, the cycle number of the excited signal should be increased. Experiments combining finite element model are then conducted to study the imaging method in the presence of damage like hole in the plate structure. In this work, the time reversal technique is used for the recompression of Lamb wave signals. Damage imaging results with time reversal using broadband and narrowband excitations are compared to those without time reversal. It suggests that the narrowband excitation combined time reversal can locate and determine the size of structural damage more precisely, but the cycle number of the excited signal should be chosen reasonably.

Wideband dispersion removal and mode separation of Lamb waves based on two-component laser interferometer measurement

Ultrasonic Lamb waves are considered as a sensitive and effective tool for nondestructive testing and evaluation of plate-like or pipe-like structures. The nature of multimode and dispersion causes the wave packets to spread, and the modes overlap in both time and frequency domains as they propagate through the structures. By using a two-component laser interferometer technique, in combination with a priori knowledge of the dispersion characteristics and wave structure information of Lamb wave modes, a two-component signal processing technique is presented for implementing dispersion removal and mode separation simultaneously for two modes mixture signals of Lamb waves. The proposed algorithm is first processed and verified using synthetic Lamb wave signals. Then, the two-component displacements test experiment is conducted using different aluminum plate samples. Moreover, we confirm the effectiveness and robustness of this method.

Generation of narrowband Lamb waves based on the Michelson interference technique

An optical method of generating narrowband Lamb waves is presented. It is carried out with a laser line array in a thermoelastic regime implemented by the Michelson interference technique, where the formed array element spacing can be flexibly and conveniently changed to achieve selective mode excitation. In order to simulate the displacement response generated by this array, its intensity distribution function is presented to build a theoretical analysis model and to derive the integral representation of the displacement response. The experimental device and measuring system are built to generate and detect the Lamb waves on a steel plate. Numerical calculation results of narrowband Lamb wave displacement signals based on the theoretical model show good agreement with experimental results.

Particle distributions in Lamb wave based acoustofluidics

Acoustic streaming enabled by a Lamb wave resonator(LWR)is efficient for particle trapping and enrichment in microfluidic channels.However,because Lamb waves combine the features of bulk acoustic waves and surface acoustic waves,the resulting acoustic streaming in the LWR occurs in multiple planes,and the particle flow behavior in this acoustofluidic system is largely unknown.Reported here are numerical simulations and laboratory experiments conducted to investigate the boundary conditions for particle motion inside a microvortex induced by an LWR.Upon dynamic capture,the particles’trajectories become orbital paths within an acoustic vortex.The suspended particles encounter two distinct acoustic phenomena,i.e.,the drag force resulting from acoustic streaming and the acoustic radiation force,which exert forces in various directions on the particles.When the acoustic radiation force and the fluid drag force are dominant for large and small particles in a mixed solution,respectively,the large particles reside within the vortex while the small particles remain at its periphery.Conversely,when the acoustic radiation force is dominant for both types of particles,the distribution pattern is reversed.

Propagation of Lamb waves in pure longitudinal modes

In this paper it is derived that a more general formula for propagation of Lamb wave in the plate bordered with liquid and presented that a pure longitudinal mode of Lamb wave ndght be generated in the plate under the load of finite liquid layers.

Study of the influence of thin layer loading on the propagation of Lamb waves using perturbation method

In many Lamb wav sensing applications, the changes of the environment of the plate to be detected are considered as small perturbations to the free boundary conditions of free Lamb wavs in a thin plate. General dispersion equations for Lamb waves in a plate with proper perturbed boundary conditions are derived. The equations are then applied to various sensing applications including viscous liquid layer loading and thin solid layer loading.Numerical solotions of the equations show that the phase velocity of Lamb waves changes linearly with the boundary impedance defined in this paper.

The propagation of Lamb waves in an anisotropic plate bordered with liquid layers

Based on elastic wave propagation theory, the dispersion equation for a thin anisotropic plate (such as commonly used Zinc okide in micro-transducers) bordered with liquid layers is derived. Higher symmetry crystals, such as orthorhombic, tetragonal, cubic, isotropic, are included in this analysis as well. For the case of one liquid layer loading, numerical calcu- lations show that the phase velocity changes periodically with the thickness of the liquld layer. When the thickness 2d of the anisotropic plate is very small, mass sensing application of Ao mode Lamb wave is also discussed.

Nondestructive testing method based on lamb waves for localization and extent of damage

Based on Lamb wave analysis of propagation in plate-like structures, a damage detection method is proposed that not only locates the position of the damage accurately but also estimates its size. Similar damage detection methods focus only on localization giving no quantitative estimation of extent. To improve detection, we propose two predictive circle methods for size estimation. Numerical simulations and experiments were performed for an aluminum plate with a hole. Two PZT configurations of different sizes were designed to excite and detect Lamb waves. From cross-correlation analysis, the damage location and extent can be determined. Results show that the proposed method enables a better quantitative resolution in detection, the size of the inspection area influences the accuracy of damage identification, and the closer is the inspected area to the damage, the more accurate are the results. The method proposed can be developed into a multiple-step detection method for multi-scale analysis with prospective accuracy.

Numerical Analysis of the Nonlinear Interactions Between Lamb Waves and Microcracks in Plate

In this paper,three-dimensional finite-element modeling is conducted to investigate the nonlinear interactions between Lamb waves and microcracks.The simulation research focuses on the influence of microcrack orientation on the propagation direction of generated sum-frequency Lamb waves.The simulation results show that the resonant conditions based on classical nonlinear theory are valid for such interactions,leading to the generation of transmitted and reflected sum-frequency SO waves(SFSWs).Moreover,the propagation directions of these two SFSWs exhibit different trends with respect to the orientations of microcracks.The transmitted SFSW can be used to detect microcracks,whereas the reflected one can be used to measure their orientations.

Application of Nonlinear Lamb Wave Mixing Method for Residual Stress Measurement in Metal Plate

Harmonic nonlinear ultrasound can offer high sensitivity for residual stress measurements;however,it cannot be used for local stress measurements at a point in space and exhibits nonlinear distortions in the experimental system.This paper presents a feasibility study on the measurement of residual stress in a metal plate using a nonlinear Lamb wave-mixing technique.The resonant conditions for two Lamb waves to generate a mixing frequency wave are obtained via theoretical analysis.Finite element simulations are performed to investigate the nonlinear interactions between the two Lamb waves.Results show that two incident A0 waves interact in regions of material nonlinearity and generate a rightward S0 wave at the sum frequency.Residual stress measurement experiments are conducted on steel plate specimens using the collinear Lamb wave-mixing technique.By setting different delays for two transmitters,the generated sum-frequency component at different spatial locations is measured.Experimental results show that the spatial distribution of the amplitude of the sum-frequency component agrees well with the spatial distribution of the residual stress measured using X-rays.The proposed collinear Lamb wave-mixing method is effective for measuring the distribution of residual stress in metal plates.

MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS OF LASER GENERATED RAYLEIGH AND LAMB WAVES CONSIDERING ITS PULSE DURATION

In this article, laser generated Rayleigh and Lamb waves are studied by taking into account its pulse duration. The physical model and theoretical solution are presented to predict the corresponding waveforms for aluminum samples under the ablation generation regime. The waveforms of the excited Rayleigh and Lamb waves by laser with selected pulse duration were measured by laser interferometer and analyzed theoretically, and the agreement between measurement and analysis is demonstrated for the validation of the theoretical model and solution. The broadening of the Rayleigh wave and the disappearing of high order Lamb wave modes can be found with the increase of the pulse duration by the laser ultrasonic technique.